Matt Hancock has failed to respond to report warning of social care 'scandal' nine months after deadline

Health secretary broke with convention by failing to respond within two months - and 11 months have now elapsed, Lords committee reveals

Matt Hancock has failed to respond to a parliamentary call to end the “national scandal” of failing social care services for almost one year, it has emerged.

Last summer, an inquiry called for an immediate £8bn cash injection to rescue the system, warning that 400,000 people have been stripped of help.

But the health secretary broke with convention by failing to respond within two months and 11 months have now elapsed, the House of Lords economic affairs committee has revealed.

“I expect to receive the response to our report imminently,” says a sternly-worded letter to Mr Hancock from Lord Forsyth, the committee’s Conservative chairman.”

The criticism comes after dangerous weaknesses in care homes were exposed by the coronavirus pandemic. At least 12,500 people have died in that setting.

But the report also highlighted the crisis in the community, with a failure to fully care for 1.4 million older people and public funding £700m lower than in 2010-11, when the Tories came to power.

More than 400,000 people have fallen out of eligibility this decade, because the means test has not been increased in line with inflation, the peers found.

In his letter, Lord Forsyth also revealed that Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, had suggested his committee’s finding would only be considered alongside “other reports in recent years”.

It made a specific recommendation of free personal social care for all, similar to Labour’s policy at the December general election.

“Those in care homes would still pay for their accommodation and assistance with less critical needs like housework or shopping,” Lord Forsyth said in his letter.

“Those receiving care in their own homes would not have to pay accommodation costs, which may encourage care users to seek essential help with personal care early.”

And he added: “The government is accountable directly to parliament and it has a duty and responsibility to reply to committee reports in a timely way, usually within two months.

“You said previously that the department would not be able to meet the usual deadline, but you must agree that 11 months is not only an inordinate amount of time for us to wait but is a breach of parliamentary convention?”

Last July, as he entered Downing Street, Boris Johnson insisted he had a “clear plan we have prepared to give every older person the dignity and security they deserve”.

In January, he admitted there was no such plan to end the social care crisis and that a solution could be five years away.

Asked for a date for action to finally be taken to improve social care, Mr Johnson told the BBC: “We will certainly do it in this parliament” – prompting the interviewer to point out: “That’s five years away.”

The Conservative manifesto had ducked the controversy, as the Tories feared the threat of new taxes to fund a cap on costs would derail the campaign – as it did Theresa May’s in 2017.